Because of current activities that local hams participate in and our robust infrastructure (even simplex is notable), SBARC participants are already reasonably prepared to step up when needed in an emergency.
An ad hoc group of hams could quickly network as we do for public service events and provide useful communication. We are ready now, but could be much better prepared to serve.
Important first questions are 1) who would welcome the benefits of our service, and 2) what valuable services could we provide? - Rod
-------- Original message -------- From: Jay Hennigan jay@west.net Date: 03/13/2015 1:25 AM (GMT-06:00) To: Thorsten von Eicken tve@rightscale.com, Rod - Traveling rod@sbatv.org, Walt zharasty@verizon.net, Alain Michel opalockamishabob@yahoo.com, William Talanian w1uuq@cox.net, sbarc list sbarc-list@lists.netlojix.com Subject: Re: [Sbarc-list] ARES activation needs, was: Redundant systems
On 3/12/15 22:25, Thorsten von Eicken wrote:
I don't want to turn this thread into a long polemic, but after a couple of years of participation with ARES I gave up because it became apparent that local authorities were not involving us pretty much regardless of what we could do. That was at the time of all the fires in the area and ARES was not mobilized a single time (unless I missed something). I didn't have the sense that it was SBARCs or ARES' fault but I'm also not really interested in those politics anyway... My conclusion was that I was wasting my time and I'm not trying to blame anyone here for this. Thorsten
I can see both sides of the coin. ARES and SBARC have value in case of a *telecommunications* emergency. We aren't firefighters, we aren't paramedics, we aren't traffic cops, we aren't mountain rescue people. At least we aren't in the context of ARES and SBARC although some of us may be as individuals. If the landline, cellular and public safety voice and fixed and mobile data networks are operational during a fire, we probably shouldn't be mobilized. We kind of went down that road many years ago with close ties to Search and Rescue where ARES was activated very frequently in cases where there was no need for communicators. Eventually both groups realized that there wasn't a need.
Andy's example of the Centurylink fiber cut in Arizona is a good example of a situation where amateur radio could have been quite useful. It would be interesting to talk to the area hams and any local ARES groups to see how, if at all, they contributed.
And, as Bill and others have pointed out many times, our contribution to the community in terms of what we do on our own in terms of communication systems is itself an asset, even in the absence of any emergency. In my opinion we need to toot our own horn a bit more when it comes to the things the community takes for granted such as the vessel tracking systems, weather stations, ELT receivers, and remote camera systems that SBARC provides. These are real benefits to society that people not in-the-know assume are just there "in the cloud" or are provided by the taxpayers.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay@impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV